Hightech Payment S A : HPS and Utimaco enter into a strategic partnership

• Effective immediately, the two companies work together to offer state-of-the-art multi-channel payment as well as cyber security solutions to the financial sector.

Casablanca, Morocco & Aachen, Germany, March 17^th, 2021 - HPS, the leading global provider of payment solutions, today announced a new partnership with Utimaco, a leading global provider of IT security solutions. As part of the partnership, HPS has integrated Utimaco's hardware security module Atalla AT1000 into PowerCARD, HPS' comprehensive suite of solutions that covers the entire payment value chain.

Utimaco's Atalla hardware security modules (HSM) have been specially developed for the banking sector and were one of the first Payment HSM worldwide to be PCI PTS HSM v3.0-certified. Customers who use Atalla technology are prepared for the challenges arising both from traditional IT environments as well as from new multi-cloud requirements. Atalla HSM are used by leading players in the payment market such as issuers, Payment Service Providers (PSP), acquirers, card schemes, cloud service providers and payment networks worldwide to protect their payment ecosystems and achieve the highest possible level of compliance. Here, Utimaco plays a decisive role in securing interbank communication, user and card authentication, secure EMV card issuance and in protecting user data.

Nabil Ibenbrahim, Deputy Managing Director at HPS commented: 'Security in the payments industry must be a priority, especially with the sharp rise in digital transactions accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Failure to adopt the latest standards will sooner or later hurt consumers and businesses alike. In Utimaco we have found a worldwide supplier of cybersecurity solutions to ensure our customers business is safe with us.'

Haris Sethi, Global Strategy Manager at Utimaco on this partnership: 'Banking and Financial services are among the most heavily regulated sectors in the market. With the change in customer behavior in relation to payments conducted online or in-store over the past year, and with the rise of digital payments since the start of the corona pandemic, it is now more important than ever to safeguard sensitive customer data. The collaboration with HPS ensures a fully integrated and compliant end-to-end solution using state-of-the-art products. We are excited that our strategic partner HPS shares our vision about the importance of innovative security solutions.'

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About HPS

HPS is a multinational company and a leading provider of payment solutions and services for issuers, acquirers, card processors, independent sales organisations (ISOs), retailers, mobile network operators (MNOs), and national & regional switches around the world. PowerCARD is HPS comprehensive suite of solutions that covers the entire payment value chain by enabling innovative payments through its open platform that allows the processing of any transaction coming from any channel initiated by any means-of- payment. PowerCARD is used by more than 400 institutions in over 90 countries. HPS is listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange since 2006 and has offices located in major business centres (Africa, Europe, Asia, Middle East).

For more information:www.hps-worldwide.com

About Utimaco

UTIMACO is a global platform provider of trusted Cybersecurity and Compliance solutions and services with headquarters in Aachen (Germany) and Campbell, CA (USA). UTIMACO develops on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules and key management solutions as well as compliance solutions for telecommunication providers in the field of regulation. UTIMACO is one of the world's leading manufacturers in both of these market segments.

350+ employees around the globe create innovative solutions and services to protect data, identities and communication networks with responsibility for global customers and citizens. Customers and partners in many different industries value the reliability and long-term investment security of UTIMACO's high-security products and solutions.

Find out more on www.utimaco.com